5. In The Heat of the Moment

"So, I told them everything. They were all sympathetic, though apparently Mikazuki told them where I was."

"How did he even know?" Yamano stretched his legs some.

"Not sure exactly", the older woman thought things over for a minute. "I had just assumed that he saw me go off. I found out later that there had been some reports of missing young women..."

"The saniwas who didn't survive", Matsumoto was fully focused on her subject. "Your men were worried about you..."

"They were. Especially the ones who"

"The closest to you?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes", she gave a small smile, "the ones I loved the most."

####

Six Months In: a village two miles away.

(I am a monster).

Yui felt guilty after witnessing another saniwa's death at the hands of her men. This one hurt; Yui befriended her and learned that the girl was a high schooler from Osaka. A sweet girl named Chiharu. However,to keep the course of history the same, the time had come to kill her. Chiharu, fully accepting of her fate and her men's, gave Yui one memento: a cell phone strap. "Yui-chan...take this to my mom, please. Let her know that I...I existed."

She clasped the strap in her hand. A butterfly.

(Six months in and I still don't know if Sakura's alive. Maybe I should let things go and move on...)

However, Sakura was doing fine. Her army had expanded twice its size from its meager beginnings six months ago,though she did lose Donatsu and almost lost her Shisengumi duo of Kashuu and Yammy.

"You've been our saniwa for six months now", she was sitting outside with Mikazuki and one of her newer men, Jiroutachi. Mikazuki was congratulating her. "Hahaha".

"Thank you." She joined the men while waiting the return of her expedition team that consisted of Mitsutada, Hasebe, Yamabushi and two new members, Hotarumaru (another child who bought out the motherly side in her) and Akashi. She also was hot as hell. "Damn it's hot..."

{I miss Air Conditioning}

"Drink some sake!" If Jiroutachi was in her time, he'd be classified as an alcoholic playboy. "You won't feel a thing!"

"No thank you. Someone's got to keep their wits around here."

"Oh, I don't mind this, hahaha". Mikazuki smiled, "this actually feels good to me!"

"I guess even old people swords like the heat."

"Whatcha doing?" Tsurumaru appeared suddenly, hanging upside down and wearing what appeared to be a fox mask. "The expedition team aren't back yet?"

"Awwwww, I'm hungry too", Jirou whined, "Shoku-chan's the only one who can actually cook around here!"

"Oh come on", Sakura sat up, "Hasebe, Kasen-kun and I can cook too. And anyway, Mitsutada left enough food in case he and the others weren't back soon".

"Want me to go find them?" The crane took his mask off and sat in between his beloved master and Jiroutachi.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She had Hasebe as captain, mainly to get him out of her hair. She knew he couldn't help himself, even when she constantly told him not to fuss over her so much and for him to have some fun and find things he liked to do. He also asked around constantly about the whereabouts of Yui. One time she even asked as a joke whether he would become a yandere. His response: "If you wish me to become so, Sakura-sama..."

In the distance, there was the sounds of horses. The expedition team had returned. She stood up to greet them. Much to her fear, however, her group looked a little beat up.

"Welcome back!" She greeted them, "you guys okay?"

"We got some resources!" The littlest member was the first to greet the saniwa. She hugged him gratefully. "Good job. Go into the refinery and I'll fix you guys." Yamabushi and Akashi greeted her as well. Her two captains were the last to greet her.

"Sakura-sama", Hasebe looked at her kindly, "as captain, I must apologize for being late..."

"Yeah, we had some trouble, so we just laid low for a few days", Mitsutada rubbed his neck sheepishly. "We ran out of food so we stayed in this village for some time."

"Well...I'm glad all of you are safe", Sakura sighed in relief. She had been prepared to lose some people. Donatsu, who she liked, was a rough blow. However, she found herself getting closer to her small quartet of the Date/Obungaga group...and Mikazuki. And despite her vow not to get attached to anyone in particular, she found herself actually enjoying Mitsutada's and Tsurumaru's company the most. They were the easiest to talk to, especially Mitsutada. "Go hit the refinery and I'll check you guys out."

"Sakura-chan?" The one-eyed tachi took what appeared to be a package wrapped in a white handkerchief. "Here."

"...?" She took the small package and looked up curiously at him.

"I saw that in the village we were in and I thought of you", a streak of pink appeared on his normally composed face. She opened the package.

It was the most beautiful pair of hairpins she had seen; simple but encrusted with pink and white jewels made to look like cherry blossoms. Her face, if anyone saw her, was as red as the tomatoes that grew in the garden.

"So, do you like it?" He asked shyly.

She looked at him dead-on, and beamed happily, "They're lovely. Tha...thank you!" Without thinking, she hugged him until she looked at him, with him looking back at her.

"I'm glad", he beamed back. They held each other for a bit longer until, "ooohooooo...this is a surprise!"

Tsurumaru popped up again...at the right moment.

"Oh, Tsuru-chan", Mitsutada quickly made an escape, "I was just going over what happened with Sakura-chan"...

"Uh huh..."

"Go to the refinery", she patted Mitsutada's arm. "Tsurumaru-san, did you need anything?"

"Actually", the snowy-haired man grinned, " I wanted to ask Mitsutada something, but...never mind that. There's something else I want to do first."

He then leaned over and kissed her softly. All she could think was, {I feel like a heroine in one of those harem games I played as a kid}.

"Falling for you was the best surprise I've had since I've been here", he stroked her cheek gently. "Well, looks like I'll have to step up my game, as you humans call it. I'll enjoy having Mitsutada as a rival when all along I thought it'd be Munechika."